I have not had a fast food burger or soda in years. I say this not in a holier-than-thou way, but because I think full context is needed here.
But when food writer Andre James gave me a tip about Central Park, the beloved burger joint birthed right here in Chattanooga, I knew I had to do a story.
“In 1982, Robert M. Davenport split ways with the Krystal fast food chain his family founded to open the first Central Park,” James reported, “in Highland Plaza at the intersection of Hixson Pike and Ashland Terrace.”
(READ MORE: Restaurant scene: Chattanooga should cherish Central Park, before it’s too late)
Over the years, the Central Park franchise had faded.
But Calvin Ball had another idea.
Ball grew up in the area eating at the Central Park location on 23rd Street. He told me over the phone that he had nostalgic memories attached to the place — the iconic green and yellow logo, the milkshakes and fries.
Ball is a general contractor, and though he has no previous restaurant experience, when he passed one of the locations on his drive to work every day, he couldn’t help but think how far a fresh coat of paint would go.
He casually spoke with the manager and then the owners and eventually purchased the remaining three franchises.
And now, Central Park has a new location adorning the food court in Hamilton Place mall.
I went there to check out the “hometown hero,” as James called it. Driving through midday traffic on the freeway, I arrived at the concrete expanse of the mall.
Heat radiated off the pavement as I walked through the automatic mall doors and was greeted by a gust of air conditioning and Celine Dion singing over the speakers.
“Hush, now I see a light in the sky,” she sang. “It’s almost blinding me.”
The light was really the skylights over the escalators, but the effect was the same as I descended into the belly of the mall. Like Jason looking for the golden fleece, I wandered past stands of soccer jerseys and sneakers and found a long line curling in front of the Central Park counter.
(READ MORE: Restaurant Scene: Owner says Central Park is back and will be better than before)
The staff was incredibly kind and took care of each customer.
I got the Big Bubba combo with Coke and fries. I sat at a table in the food court in a puddle of sunshine and unfurled the red checkered paper as the burger sat staunchly packed with sauces and crunchy onions, melted cheese and juicy tomatoes and pickles.
The fries crackled with a warm, salty crunch, and the soda carbonation bubbled, popped and glistened.
This is why fast food is addicting, I thought. I couldn’t decide if Celine Dion singing “a new day has come” in the background made the moment funny or ominous.
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The burger lived up to the hype, but no one forewarned me of the burger-coma that would soon set in — that I would need to possibly crawl out of the mall back to my car and should have cleared my schedule for the rest of the day. How was I expected to get back to work?
Ball said by phone that there are plans in the works to open more units, possibly by the end of the year or the beginning of next in Cleveland, Tennessee, and Dalton. I love a hometown hero, I love a resurrected burger joint.
I’d take Central Park over any other burger chain coming to Chattanooga any day of the week. I would just take it on a day that I could clear my schedule.
Contact Lyric Lewin at llewin@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6215.
